The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is funding the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Brisbane Airport, marking a major breakthrough in the push to establish a low-emission aviation industry across Australia.
Fuel supplier Viva Energy Australia has completed the refurbishment of a specialised storage tank at its Pinkenba Terminal. The newly upgraded facility is now fully equipped to store, blend and supply SAF directly into the airport’s existing refuelling network.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller highlighted the development as a step forward in constructing the complex supply chains required to lower the aviation sector’s heavy carbon footprint.
“Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise and sustainable aviation fuel will play a critical role in reducing emissions using today’s aircraft and infrastructure,” Miller said.
“This project shows how we can start supplying SAF through existing fuel systems, while building the foundations for a domestic industry in Australia.”
In tandem with the physical fuel rollout, the project will trial a book and claim accounting system.
This digital framework enables corporate clients and commercial airlines to purchase, track and formally claim the emissions reductions tied to the SAF supplied to the airport, even if their specific aircraft uses standard fuel.
The Brisbane project forms part of a much broader federal push into lower-emission liquid fuels.
Alongside this announcement, ARENA confirmed it is injecting a further AU$3.15 million into Wildfire Energy under its Sustainable Aviation Fuel Funding Initiative.
This grant will fund a pilot project to test municipal and industrial waste conversion technologies, alongside a feasibility study for a commercial-scale SAF production facility in Queensland.
To date, ARENA has committed AU$36.7 million toward six distinct SAF ventures.
This momentum is set to accelerate further, with the agency also administering the federal government’s AU$250 million low-carbon liquid fuels funding stream under the broader Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund.